Abstract:

Morpholog}7 of the digestive system can help deHue
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species in a given environment. In a siudy io desciibe the naif! ? ;
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digestive system of Barbus altianaliSy samples of B. altianalis wer< £dken :?m River Nile.
Their Lengths and weights were measured and the gut structure preserved, The structure of
the digestive tract of thcB. altianalis was described using simple morphological observations
and standard histological procedures. The digestive tube of B. altianalis is stomachless and
valveless, progressively and uniformly reducing in size from the proximal to distal end. The
digestive tract is on average 2.22 ± 0.37 times longer than its body length. The mouth is
terminal and protrusible and pharyngeal palatal organ is well developed. The last gill arch is
modified into pharyngeal teeth and the eosophagus is short and muscular. Histological sections
revealed the presence of taste buds from the lips to the cranial eosophagus and these regions
of the digestive tract are lined by a stratified squamous epithelium. The intestines are lined by
simple or pseudo stratified columnar epithelial layer which is highly folded. Goblet cells
containing both acidic and neutral mucins are present throughout the entire digestive tract
and are more numerous in tlie pharynx and the proximal part of the intestine. Lobes of pancreatic
acini are discrete and scattered among liver cells, around the intestine and few are seen in the
spleen surrounding blood vessels. Thus, the liver could most accurately be termed